Introduction

Given the recent announcements, Sony is finally getting serious about beefing up their lens lineup for the Sony NEX system - so far this has been a major weakness of the system. It seems as if they are feeling the heat introduced by the highly successful Fuji X-system.

Earlier this year, Sony released a couple of affordable APS-C prime lenses including the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 OSS. It is the closest thing to a standard lens in the Sony NEX lens lineup with a field of view equivalent to about 53mm on full format cameras. The lens is not only comparatively fast but the optical image stabilizer (Optical Steady Shot - OSS) provides some extra potential for low light photography where a tripod is not an option. The OSS may also explain why the lens isn't a budget items but priced around 450US$/EUR.

The build quality of the Sony lens is pretty good. Similar to its in-house cousins, the outer shell, the mount as well as the smoothly operating focus ring are made of metal. The inner lens compartment is made of plastics though. The lens keeps a constant physical length regardless of the focus setting. A petal-shaped lens hood is also part of the package.

The linear AF of the lens is no speed demon but it works silently. DMF (Direct Manual Focus) is also available. As usual, focusing works "by-wire" which may be something to get used to - we had no issues here though. The OSS (image stabilizer) is good enough for an extra potential equivalent to about 3 f-stops in real life situations.